Andrew, a promising, young music student who specializes in the drums enters a highly competitive conservatory where he clashes with a verbally abusive instructor. Under his ruthless direction, Andrew begins to pursue perfection at any cost—even his humanity.

Before La La Land and First Man writer-director Damien Chazelle already explored similar thematic ground in Whiplash: a more contained, and anxious character study on the pressures of success. Featuring an Academy Award®-winning performance from an unusually terrifying J.K. Simmons.